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were both more secure in their relationship, if Ian did not come to understand without any explanation. |
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However, Alinor had accomplished her purpose. She did not know whether she had really driven his lost love out of his mind or merely turned his thoughts into pleasanter channels, but his expression had lightened. He pulled her close and kissed her, which gave Alinor the excuse she sought to change talk to action. She gave a brief, enthusiastic response and then pulled away. |
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"Hedgehog," she remarked. "Of course, I have never kissed a hedgehog, but I imagine it must feel like kissing you right now. Let the barber come in and shave you, Ian. And, oh heavens, look at the light. Surely we have missed both Masses." |
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Had this been Alinor's first marriage, the noble ladies and gentlemen would have come early to waken bride and groom and to display the bloodstained sheets that were evidence of the bride's virginity. Since this proof could hardly be expected from a woman who had been thirteen years married and had borne four children, the second part of the bedding ceremony had been dispensed with. |
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"Do you want me to bind that leg now, or will you be shaved first?" Alinor asked after having clapped her hands sharply to summon her maids. |
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"I can do without the binding," Ian assured her, releasing her a little reluctantly. |
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Alinor twitched aside the covers and burst out laughing. "I will put a lock and key on it," she teased. "How dare you cry lack of strength." But her eyes had already shifted to his knee, and she realized Ian had been speaking the truth. Even though the splint had been off all the previous day, there was almost no swelling and the discoloration seemed a little fainter. The knee was mending. Still laughing, she pulled the cover over him again and sent one of her maids off to summon his squires. "It would be too shocking for Gertrude and Ethelburga," she teased. "You are not decent. More- |
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